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Planning ·Reading Comprehension Strategy Activating and Building Background Knowledge: The students will support responses by referring to relevant aspects of text and his/her own experiences (use prior/background knowledge and schema and make text-to-self connections)
·Reading Development Level
4th Grade: Advanced
·Instructional Strategies
Identifying similarities and differences (comparing/contrasting)
·Lesson Length 50 -60 minutes (1 session) ·Purpose
The purpose of this lesson is to get the students to be able to connect their lives with those of Pilgrim children to truly grasp the history of those who came before us. If they can understand the similarities and differences between themselves and children who lived four hundred years ago, they will be able to better understand and remember American history. We want the students to understand how important it is appreciate modern-day tools in our lives, and one way to do that is to understand how difficult the lives of Pilgrim children were. Very clear and thoughtful - I believe that developing the purpose for the lesson - with your collaborator - helps cement the commitment to the lesson(s).
·Objectives
Social Studies TEKS (other content areas):
22 (B) The student will analyze information by comparing, contrasting.
23 (D) The student will create written material such as graphic organizers Reading TEKS: 11 (C) The student will support responses by referring to relevant aspects of text and his/her own experiences. 13 (E) The student will summarize and organize information from multiple sources by taking notes, outlining ideas, or making charts Educational technology: Technology Applications TEKS:
10 (C) The student will use appropriate applications to develop charts and graphs by using data from various sources.
·Resources, Materials, and Equipment
Children’s Literature Sarah Morton's Day: a Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl, and Samuel Eaton's Day: The Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy, both by Kate Waters: 10 copies-two copies of each book on loan from the other elementary schools in the district.
Hurray for thinking this through and setting up the graphic organizers in advance!
Materials assessment rubric
Equipment
2 SMART Boards, and the attachments needed for them (2 projectors/laptops); computer for each student to complete a webspiration VENN diagram for student independent work
·Collaboration - This can also be presented as a narrative (as in CS4TRC). The number of times "co" appears on these lists indicates an exemplary co-teaching plan. As collaborators build their co-teaching relationship, the divisions of labor may become less defined.
Classroom Teacher's Responsibilities:
1. Create the Venn diagram on Webspiration.
2. Co-teach introductory activity.
3. Teach the presentation to half of the class.
4. Co-teach guided practice to whole group.
Teacher and Librarian Co-reponsibilities:
1. Together teacher and librarian will create the actual assessment rubric;
2. The teacher and librarian will assess the students' Venn diagrams using the same rubric students used for self-assessment during a collaborative meeting.
3. The librarian will create the Pilgrim Pathfinder and share with the teacher for additional input and websites.
Librarian's responsibilities:
1. Provide the anchor books. 2. Provide and set up SMART boards with laptops and projectors that go with it.
3. Upload Venn diagram to the SMART board.
4. Co-teach the introductory activity.
5. Teach presentation to half of the class.
6. Co-teach guided practice to whole group.
Collaboration Planning Times: Two weeks before the lesson, plan before school, two days a week. Plan again the week before, 1-2 days, before school, as needed.
Library Time/Computer Time Needed:
1 Hour Unit Time Line: 1-2 days
·Assessment Students will use this rubric for self-assessment, and the teacher and librarian will meet to collaboratively assess the students' final products using this same rubric:
Your rubric measures the lesson objectives. You will most likely need to teach this rubric to students. Suggestion: Over time, I have learned to bold the distinctions between the levels of proficiency. This helps everyone understand the distinctions. Example: Bold the number of similarities and differences in the first criterion.
(Typo in the last criterion - "clearing" should be "clearly"?)
·Standards
Standard One: Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge (Meets both Reading/Writing standards)
Standard Two: Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge (Meets Reading/Writing/Listening/Speaking standards)
AASL Strands:
Strand One: Skills
Strand Two: Dispositions
Strand Four: Self-Assessment Strategies
AASL Indicators:
(Skills):
1.1.1 Follow an inquiry-based process in seeking knowledge in curricular subjects, and make the real world connection for using this process in own life.
1.1.2 Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning.
1.1.9 Collaborate with others to broaden and deepen understanding.
(Dispositions in Action):
1.2.3 Demonstrating creativity by using multiple resources and formats.
(Responsibilities):
1.3.4 Contribute to the exchange of ideas within the learning community
Implementation
Motivation/Introductory Activity Working with the entire class, the librarian will play audio of "pilgrim talk" found as a link of thepilgrim pathfinder. Librarian will ask students what these "common" sayings mean. After soliciting several responses, the librarian will tell students the correct meaning of the phrases. Next, the teacher will share the two anchor books and read the titles, authors, and illustrator's names. Teacher will ask students what they already knowabout pilgrims. Think-pair-share in groups of four. Groups will come back together and share responses. The librarian asks for responses orally while teacher records responses on SMART board. The librarian will use the pilgrim pathfinder to show students images of everyday pilgrim life while teacher leads whole class discussion on similarities and differences the students see from their lives and the pilgrims' lives. The librarian and teacher will record similarities and differences noted by students from viewing the pilgrim pathfinder. The teacher will impress upon the students how important it is to appreciate the modern-day tools in our lives, and one way to do that is to understand how difficult the lives of the pilgrims were.
Yes! I think the Pilgrim talk will be quite compelling to students. Great involvement of students. (I see what you mean about font sizes. Wikis - and life - are imperfect! One way to get around this - usually - is to copy and paste your text into "Notepad" before copying it onto the wiki page. This removes all of the tags Microsoft Words adds to your text. It takes t-i-m-e!)
Student-Friendly Objectives 1. The student will read about the lives of a pilgrim boy and a pilgrim girl.
2. The student will compare/contrast pilgrim boy to pilgrim girl.
3. The student will make text-to-self connections.
4. The student will compare/contrast self to pilgrim girl or boy.
5. The student will use a Venn diagram to show the comparison/contrast.
Presentation
Divide the class in half. Each educator reads her copies of the two anchor books, Sarah Morton's Day: a Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl, and Samuel Eaton's Day: a Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy.During the reading of the books, the educator will ask for students' comments about what they are seeing about the pilgrim girl's life and the pilgrim boy's life. The educator will record student responses on the SMART board. After each book has been read, discussed, and responses recorded, the group will complete the Venn diagram displayed on the SMART board using the notes from the reading to compare and contrast the day of a pilgrim girl and a pilgrim boy. Once this is completed, the groups will come back together as one large group. The teacher and librarian will ask the class: what was the same and different about the two Venn diagrams on the SMART boards? The students will think-pair-share in groups of four, and each group will share what they found, as both the librarian and teacher check off on their respective SMART boards what both groups found, and add to them what wasn't noticed by either group.
Student Participation Procedures - This should be offered as a list so it can be displayed for students' review. See examples in CS4TRC. During the motivation/introductory activities, students will have opportunities to participate by sharing their ideas of what the "common pilgrim sayings" might mean. They will also participate here by sharing what they already know about pilgrims. While they are with either the teacher or librarian, they will be participating by sharing their text-to-self connections, and by asking questions elicited by the information learned from the texts. They will also participate by completing the first Venn diagram, comparing and contrasting the pilgrim boy with the pilgrim girl. Then, when both groups come together, the students will participate in think-pair-share groups by saying what they notice about both groups' Venn diagrams. Also, during the reflection, the students will be able to participate by answering the questions.
Student Practice Procedures- This should be offered as a list so it can be displayed for students' review. See examples in CS4TRC. The students will get practice procedures when, during the guided practice, they are able to compare/contrast the pilgrim girl to the pilgrim boy. This will help prepare themselves for their independent activity (comparing/contrasting themselves to either a pilgrim boy or pilgrim girl).
Guided Practice - This is usually what the students do to practice the strategy on their own while educators monitor their work. What you have described below is really a subsequent lesson presentation and that day's guided practice.
I have copied a piece of the presentation above that could serve as guided practice for Day 1: The students will think-pair-share in groups of four. The educators will monitor students' ability to distinguish similarities and differences.
Closure: Each group will share what they found, as both the librarian and teacher check off on their respective SMART boards what both groups found, and add to them what wasn't noticed by either group.
Then go to the reflection for Day 1 that focuses on how to record similarities and differences by connecting evidence in the text and background knowledge. Presentation - Day 2: Using the SMART board, the teacher and librarian will review how to create a Venn diagram on Webspiration (at this point in the year, the students have a lot of experience doing this). The students will then create their individual Venn diagrams on the student computers while teacher and librarian monitor and give assistance as needed.
Then students will then brainstorm categories for finding similarities and differences between themselves and either a pilgrim boy or girl (student's choice) such as housing, food, clothes, and schooling while teacher records responses on the SMART board. Students will decide on only four categories of similarities and differences to find between themselves and a pilgrim child. The teacher and librarian will explain the assignment and share the rubric with students by passing one out to each student, and explain that the students must use this to assess their work, and it will need to be turned in. It will also be explained here that the teacher and librarian will collaborate to assess each students' final product using the same assessment rubric.
Guided Practice - Day 2: Students will then complete the lesson by using the Pilgrim Pathfinder and copies of the two anchor books to find similarities and differences betweeen themselves and the pilgrim child. Students will record these similarities and differences on their Venn diagram while teacher and librarian monitor and provide assistance as needed.
Closure Students will use the rubric to self-assess their individual Venn diagrams and turn in final products. Students will come together and teacher and librarian will ask students to volunteer one similarity or one difference they discovered about themselves and pilgrim children.
Reflection - This is a great reflection for the entire series of lessons.
How did it help our understanding to make connections about the lives of the pilgrim children to our own lives? When do you feel would have been a better time to be a child, during the 1600s, or now? What did you find unfair about what the pilgrim children had to do in a day? What do you find unfair about what you have to do in a day?
·Extensions
The students will then visit the district's Outdoor Learning Center for their fourth grade field trip, and visit a school house replica of one actually built by early pioneers. They will experience writing on slates with chalk (chalk much different from what we use now), as well as writing with quill pens, and see items like those presented in the books about Sarah Morton and Samuel Eaton, such as a butter churn, etc.
This will be fun for students and a great way to connect in school and outside of class learning. After the field trip, they could write a diary entry or produce some other reflective piece that shows the connections they made between their research and the hands on experience.
Moreillon, J. Collaborative strategies for teaching reading comprehension: Maximizing your impact. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2007.
Planning
· Reading Comprehension Strategy
Activating and Building Background Knowledge: The students will support responses by referring to relevant aspects of text and his/her own experiences (use prior/background knowledge and schema and make text-to-self connections)
· Reading Development Level
4th Grade: Advanced
· Instructional Strategies
Identifying similarities and differences (comparing/contrasting)
· Lesson Length
50 -60 minutes (1 session)
· Purpose
The purpose of this lesson is to get the students to be able to connect their lives with those of Pilgrim children to truly grasp the history of those who came before us. If they can understand the similarities and differences between themselves and children who lived four hundred years ago, they will be able to better understand and remember American history. We want the students to understand how important it is appreciate modern-day tools in our lives, and one way to do that is to understand how difficult the lives of Pilgrim children were. Very clear and thoughtful - I believe that developing the purpose for the lesson - with your collaborator - helps cement the commitment to the lesson(s).
· Objectives
Social Studies TEKS (other content areas):
22 (B) The student will analyze information by comparing, contrasting.
23 (D) The student will create written material such as graphic organizers
Reading TEKS:
11 (C) The student will support responses by referring to relevant aspects of text and his/her own experiences.
13 (E) The student will summarize and organize information from multiple sources by taking notes, outlining ideas, or making charts
Educational technology:
Technology Applications TEKS:
10 (C) The student will use appropriate applications to develop charts and graphs by using data from various sources.
·Resources, Materials, and Equipment
Children’s Literature
Sarah Morton's Day: a Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl, and Samuel Eaton's Day: The Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy, both by Kate Waters: 10 copies-two copies of each book on loan from the other elementary schools in the district.
Websites
These are exemplary resources. The "Pilgrim talk" link is especially engaging.
Graphic Organizers
Venn Diagram
Venn diagram to be done as a class:
http://www.mywebspiration.com/view/285668a36105
Venn diagram to be done for independently, for assessment:
http://www.mywebspiration.com/view/284011a32558
Hurray for thinking this through and setting up the graphic organizers in advance!
Materials
assessment rubric
Equipment
2 SMART Boards, and the attachments needed for them (2 projectors/laptops); computer for each student to complete a webspiration VENN diagram for student independent work
·Collaboration - This can also be presented as a narrative (as in CS4TRC). The number of times "co" appears on these lists indicates an exemplary co-teaching plan. As collaborators build their co-teaching relationship, the divisions of labor may become less defined.
Classroom Teacher's Responsibilities:
1. Create the Venn diagram on Webspiration.
2. Co-teach introductory activity.
3. Teach the presentation to half of the class.
4. Co-teach guided practice to whole group.
Teacher and Librarian Co-reponsibilities:
1. Together teacher and librarian will create the actual assessment rubric;
2. The teacher and librarian will assess the students' Venn diagrams using the same rubric students used for self-assessment during a collaborative meeting.
3. The librarian will create the Pilgrim Pathfinder and share with the teacher for additional input and websites.
Librarian's responsibilities:
1. Provide the anchor books.
2. Provide and set up SMART boards with laptops and projectors that go with it.
3. Upload Venn diagram to the SMART board.
4. Co-teach the introductory activity.
5. Teach presentation to half of the class.
6. Co-teach guided practice to whole group.
Collaboration Planning Times: Two weeks before the lesson, plan before school, two days a week. Plan again the week before, 1-2 days, before school, as needed.
Library Time/Computer Time Needed:
1 Hour
Unit Time Line: 1-2 days
· Assessment
Students will use this rubric for self-assessment, and the teacher and librarian will meet to collaboratively assess the students' final products using this same rubric:
Your rubric measures the lesson objectives. You will most likely need to teach this rubric to students. Suggestion: Over time, I have learned to bold the distinctions between the levels of proficiency. This helps everyone understand the distinctions. Example: Bold the number of similarities and differences in the first criterion.
(Typo in the last criterion - "clearing" should be "clearly"?)
· Standards
Standard One: Inquire, think critically, and gain knowledge (Meets both Reading/Writing standards)
Standard Two: Draw conclusions, make informed decisions, apply knowledge to new situations, and create new knowledge (Meets Reading/Writing/Listening/Speaking standards)
AASL Strands:
Strand One: Skills
Strand Two: Dispositions
Strand Four: Self-Assessment Strategies
AASL Indicators:
(Skills):
1.1.1 Follow an inquiry-based process in seeking knowledge in curricular subjects, and make the real world connection for using this process in own life.
1.1.2 Use prior and background knowledge as context for new learning.
1.1.9 Collaborate with others to broaden and deepen understanding.
(Dispositions in Action):
1.2.3 Demonstrating creativity by using multiple resources and formats.
(Responsibilities):
1.3.4 Contribute to the exchange of ideas within the learning community
Implementation
Motivation/Introductory Activity
Working with the entire class, the librarian will play audio of "pilgrim talk" found as a link of the pilgrim pathfinder. Librarian will ask students what these "common" sayings mean. After soliciting several responses, the librarian will tell students the correct meaning of the phrases. Next, the teacher will share the two anchor books and read the titles, authors, and illustrator's names. Teacher will ask students what they already know about pilgrims. Think-pair-share in groups of four. Groups will come back together and share responses. The librarian asks for responses orally while teacher records responses on SMART board. The librarian will use the pilgrim pathfinder to show students images of everyday pilgrim life while teacher leads whole class discussion on similarities and differences the students see from their lives and the pilgrims' lives. The librarian and teacher will record similarities and differences noted by students from viewing the pilgrim pathfinder. The teacher will impress upon the students how important it is to appreciate the modern-day tools in our lives, and one way to do that is to understand how difficult the lives of the pilgrims were.
Yes! I think the Pilgrim talk will be quite compelling to students. Great involvement of students. (I see what you mean about font sizes. Wikis - and life - are imperfect! One way to get around this - usually - is to copy and paste your text into "Notepad" before copying it onto the wiki page. This removes all of the tags Microsoft Words adds to your text. It takes t-i-m-e!)
Student-Friendly Objectives
1. The student will read about the lives of a pilgrim boy and a pilgrim girl.
2. The student will compare/contrast pilgrim boy to pilgrim girl.
3. The student will make text-to-self connections.
4. The student will compare/contrast self to pilgrim girl or boy.
5. The student will use a Venn diagram to show the comparison/contrast.
Presentation
Divide the class in half. Each educator reads her copies of the two anchor books, Sarah Morton's Day: a Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Girl, and Samuel Eaton's Day: a Day in the Life of a Pilgrim Boy. During the reading of the books, the educator will ask for students' comments about what they are seeing about the pilgrim girl's life and the pilgrim boy's life. The educator will record student responses on the SMART board. After each book has been read, discussed, and responses recorded, the group will complete the Venn diagram displayed on the SMART board using the notes from the reading to compare and contrast the day of a pilgrim girl and a pilgrim boy. Once this is completed, the groups will come back together as one large group. The teacher and librarian will ask the class: what was the same and different about the two Venn diagrams on the SMART boards? The students will think-pair-share in groups of four, and each group will share what they found, as both the librarian and teacher check off on their respective SMART boards what both groups found, and add to them what wasn't noticed by either group.
Student Participation Procedures - This should be offered as a list so it can be displayed for students' review. See examples in CS4TRC.
During the motivation/introductory activities, students will have opportunities to participate by sharing their ideas of what the "common pilgrim sayings" might mean. They will also participate here by sharing what they already know about pilgrims. While they are with either the teacher or librarian, they will be participating by sharing their text-to-self connections, and by asking questions elicited by the information learned from the texts. They will also participate by completing the first Venn diagram, comparing and contrasting the pilgrim boy with the pilgrim girl. Then, when both groups come together, the students will participate in think-pair-share groups by saying what they notice about both groups' Venn diagrams. Also, during the reflection, the students will be able to participate by answering the questions.
Student Practice Procedures- This should be offered as a list so it can be displayed for students' review. See examples in CS4TRC.
The students will get practice procedures when, during the guided practice, they are able to compare/contrast the pilgrim girl to the pilgrim boy. This will help prepare themselves for their independent activity (comparing/contrasting themselves to either a pilgrim boy or pilgrim girl).
Guided Practice - This is usually what the students do to practice the strategy on their own while educators monitor their work. What you have described below is really a subsequent lesson presentation and that day's guided practice.
I have copied a piece of the presentation above that could serve as guided practice for Day 1: The students will think-pair-share in groups of four. The educators will monitor students' ability to distinguish similarities and differences.
Closure: Each group will share what they found, as both the librarian and teacher check off on their respective SMART boards what both groups found, and add to them what wasn't noticed by either group.
Then go to the reflection for Day 1 that focuses on how to record similarities and differences by connecting evidence in the text and background knowledge.
Presentation - Day 2: Using the SMART board, the teacher and librarian will review how to create a Venn diagram on Webspiration (at this point in the year, the students have a lot of experience doing this). The students will then create their individual Venn diagrams on the student computers while teacher and librarian monitor and give assistance as needed.
Then students will then brainstorm categories for finding similarities and differences between themselves and either a pilgrim boy or girl (student's choice) such as housing, food, clothes, and schooling while teacher records responses on the SMART board. Students will decide on only four categories of similarities and differences to find between themselves and a pilgrim child. The teacher and librarian will explain the assignment and share the rubric with students by passing one out to each student, and explain that the students must use this to assess their work, and it will need to be turned in. It will also be explained here that the teacher and librarian will collaborate to assess each students' final product using the same assessment rubric.
Guided Practice - Day 2: Students will then complete the lesson by using the Pilgrim Pathfinder and copies of the two anchor books to find similarities and differences betweeen themselves and the pilgrim child. Students will record these similarities and differences on their Venn diagram while teacher and librarian monitor and provide assistance as needed.
Closure
Students will use the rubric to self-assess their individual Venn diagrams and turn in final products. Students will come together and teacher and librarian will ask students to volunteer one similarity or one difference they discovered about themselves and pilgrim children.
Reflection - This is a great reflection for the entire series of lessons.
How did it help our understanding to make connections about the lives of the pilgrim children to our own lives? When do you feel would have been a better time to be a child, during the 1600s, or now? What did you find unfair about what the pilgrim children had to do in a day? What do you find unfair about what you have to do in a day?
· Extensions
The students will then visit the district's Outdoor Learning Center for their fourth grade field trip, and visit a school house replica of one actually built by early pioneers. They will experience writing on slates with chalk (chalk much different from what we use now), as well as writing with quill pens, and see items like those presented in the books about Sarah Morton and Samuel Eaton, such as a butter churn, etc.
This will be fun for students and a great way to connect in school and outside of class learning. After the field trip, they could write a diary entry or produce some other reflective piece that shows the connections they made between their research and the hands on experience.
Moreillon, J. Collaborative strategies for teaching reading comprehension: Maximizing your impact. Chicago: ALA Editions, 2007.